LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -Jimmy Kimmel returned to U.S. late-night television on Tuesday defending political satire against Trump administration “bullying”, six days after his on-air remarks about the murder of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk led Walt Disney to suspend his show.
Disney’s decision to cut short Kimmel’s exile for comments it initially labeled as “ill-timed” and “insensitive” marked a high-profile act of corporate defiance in the face of Trump’s escalating crackdown on perceived enemies in the media through litigation and regulatory threats.
Still, in his first night back on air in nearly a week, Kimmel jockeyed between his usual brand of wry wit and a more sober, sensitive tone addressing the uproar his earlier commentary had unleashed.
“It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man. I don’t think there’s anything funny about it,” the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” host told viewers, his voice choking with emotion, moments after taking the stage to a standing ovation.
“Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what was obviously a deeply disturbed individual – that was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make,” Kimmel, 57, added.
Disney, parent company of the ABC network that airs his show, halted its production on September 17, two days after Kimmel said in his opening monologue that President Donald Trump’s supporters were eager to characterize Kirk’s accused assassin “as anything other than one of them” and accused them of trying to “score political points” from his killing.
The Trump administration and many of its supporters voiced outrage at Kimmel’s comments, which came five days after Kirk, a close Trump ally and radio-podcast host, was shot dead while speaking on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.
In response to Kimmel’s remarks, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr had threatened an investigation and urged television stations to drop Kimmel’s show or face possible fines and revocation of their broadcast licenses.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said then.
THANKING HIS DETRACTORS
A short time later, Disney announced its immediate, indefinite suspension of Kimmel, sparking a backlash that ultimately grew to include several prominent conservatives who joined Democrats in condemning the FCC for what they branded as attempts at government censorship.
“I want to thank the people who don’t support my show and what I believe but support my right to share those beliefs anyway,” Kimmel said on Tuesday, name-checking such luminaries of the political right as commentators Ben Shapiro and Candace Owens, as well as U.S. Republican Senators Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Ted Cruz of Texas.
“I don’t think I’ve ever said this before, but Ted Cruz is right,” Kimmel said to laughs.
Disney also faced pressure from consumers protesting Kimmel’s suspension by canceling their subscriptions to the Disney+ streaming channel.
Kimmel joked during the broadcast that Disney only imposed one condition for his return – then pulled a piece of paper from his pocket to read a statement asking viewers to renew their Disney+ service.
Even though Disney has now brought Kimmel back to ABC’s lineup, the two largest television station groups of ABC local affiliates – Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair – were still boycotting his show.
Before Tuesday’s broadcast, Trump opined on his Truth Social online platform that he “can’t believe” ABC gave Kimmel back his show, and hinted at further action against the network.
“Why would they want someone back who does so poorly, who’s not funny, and who puts the Network in jeopardy by playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE,” Trump wrote.
“He is yet another arm of the DNC (Democratic National Committee) and, to the best of my knowledge, that would be a major illegal Campaign Contribution. I think we’re going to test ABC out on this.”
‘MUZZLING’ COMEDIANS AND THE PRESS
Kimmel, a four-time Oscars host, said Trump was not just after comedians he disliked, but also journalists, saying of the Republican president: “He’s suing them, he’s bullying them.”
ABC News agreed to donate $15 million to Trump’s presidential library to settle a lawsuit over comments anchor George Stephanopoulos made about the civil case brought against the president by writer E. Jean Carroll.
And Paramount Global paid $16 million in July to settle a lawsuit filed by Trump claiming that the CBS News program “60 Minutes” deceptively edited an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris that the network broadcast in October.
The same month, Paramount announced it was canceling “The Late Show” hosted by comedian Stephen Colbert on CBS. The network said it was a business decision but critics widely saw it as part of a move to please Trump.
“I know that’s not as interesting as muzzling a comedian, but it’s so important to have a free press, and it is nuts we’re not paying more attention to it,” Kimmel said.
Dispelling any notion he might pull his punches when it came to lampooning Trump on Tuesday, Kimmel opened the show quipping, “I’m not sure who had a weirder 48 hours – me or the CEO of Tylenol,” a reference to Trump’s announcement that linked autism to the use of the popular pain medication by women when they’re pregnant.
“Follow the advice of Donald Trump, and you too can look like a glazed ham with deep vein thrombosis,” Kimmel joked. “This is Tylenol. We’re talking about the thing that you take when they won’t let you take anything that works.”
Near the end of his monologue, Kimmel returned to the subject that got him briefly banished from late night TV, saying that he was “deeply” moved by the forgiveness Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, has voiced for her husband’s 22-year-old accused killer, an expression the host called “a selfless act of grace.”
“And if there’s anything we should take from this tragedy to carry forward, I hope it can be that,” he said, his eyes again welling with tears.
(Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski, Steve Gorman and Jane Ross in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis, Christopher Cushing and Michael Perry)
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